President Donald Trump’s lawyers have notified the U.S. Supreme Court that he intends to seek revival of his $475 million defamation lawsuit against CNN.
According to Bloomberg, the filing, docketed Friday, requests a 60-day extension until August 15 for Trump to submit a formal petition for review. It signals his plan to ask the justices to overturn lower court rulings that dismissed the case.
Trump originally filed the suit in October 2022 in federal court in Florida. He accused CNN of defaming him by repeatedly using the phrase “the Big Lie” in its 2020 election coverage and commentary. The term described Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud that he said cost him the election to Joe Biden.Trump argued the phrase evoked Nazi propaganda techniques associated with Adolf Hitler, damaging his reputation and political prospects. He sought $475 million in damages.
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- In July 2023, U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal (a Trump appointee) dismissed the case. He ruled that CNN’s use of “Big Lie” constituted protected opinion, not a verifiable false statement of fact.
- A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal in November 2025, calling Trump’s arguments “meritless.” The panel included two Trump-appointed judges.
- Trump’s subsequent requests for rehearing were also denied.
If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, it would require at least four justices to grant certiorari. The Court has not yet commented on the extension request. Trump’s legal team has previously indicated they will pursue the matter to its “just and deserved conclusion.”
This development comes as Trump, now in his second term as president, continues to challenge media coverage of his 2020 election efforts through the courts. The case highlights ongoing tensions over the boundaries between protected journalistic opinion and actionable defamation.